Barbour to Romney: Stick to the big issues

9/30/12 11:58 AM EDT

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour sees the key for getting Mitt Romney's campaign back on track is to "start" and "stick with" big issues, including Medicare.

"The idea that this is going to be a campaign about big issues would help Romney if they would have just stuck to it," the former Republican governor said on ABC's "This Week." "Start with it, stick to it. I thought picking [Paul] Ryan was a very bright thing to do, because there hadn't been a campaign since 1980 that the Democrats didn't have a Mediscare campaign, that they didn't say the Republicans were against Medicare. Get somebody out there, and let's talk to the American people about Medicare, and they'll understand we have to do something."

Barbour took digs at the President Barack Obama's campaign for diverging from the truth and urged Republican rival Romney to showcase the "reality" of Obama's plans to undecided and Obama voters.

"He has to get them back focused on the reality of Obama's policies, the failures of those policies - and then offer them what he would do and why that would be better for their families, their communities, and our country," Barbour said. "Pretty simple. It's not rocket science."